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durhamrcgion.com • THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ NOVEMBER 10,2004 ♦ PAGE 13 Œl) C Cniintimi statesman ♦ durhamregion.com .el m m < x Paul Futhey Generals a team in transition Question is, which way-will the wheel of fortune spin? .That the London Knights are merrily Watching the rest of the Ontario Hockey Hockey League attempt to play catch-up can hardly be considered a surprise. -That this is happening with the season season barely past the quarter-pole is a bit of an eyebrow-raiser, however. iYes, the Knights (17-0-1-0) have yet to taste defeat and are owners of the league's most prolific offence, stingiest stingiest defence and the most ridiculously proficient power play. The penalty killing could use a little touching up, though (it's second, in case you were wondering). '.The view from the top must be nice, as the Knights seek to do the improbable and register a fifth con- ' secutive season of improvement on a previous year's point total. That feat is exceedingly rare, even with keeping tl)e cyclical nature of junior hockey iii mind. This is a club that has built toward something. jlf there's a surprise here in Oshawa, it's that the Generals are sitting in ninth in the Eastern Conference. [The Generals,. however, remain a team very much in transition. The : number of personnel transactions the club has made this season alone certainly certainly suggests that much. A look at tlje season's first issue of the game- dhy program has pictures of five players players who have already moved on, six ié you count Jesse Biduke, who is still Generals' property but currently spending time with the Tier II Legion- ajres. 'There'll likely be more moves. It sfiould be noted that general manager manager Brad Selwood has expressed an interest in addressing the team's need at centre with Justin Donati injured, though he was pleased with the play over the weekend of Andrew Gibbons, who picked up four assists in three grimes in Donati's spot. And then there's the goaltending. Even with Dan Turple's recent struggles, struggles, the position remains a strength of the club. Trouble is, both he and Ryan Gibb are 19. f'I cannot finish the season with two '85 goaltenders," says Selwood, voicing voicing what many have been whispering for a while now. .Whatever Selwood decides, it'll be a'key move, one that will have impact beyond this campaign. Speaking of this season, it's still early and still entirely possible the Generals will finish in the top half of the Eastern Conference. The standings aren't overly daunting. Indications are growing, however, that this, year's team will lie somewhere. somewhere. in the conference's mushy middle: middle: not as bad as some may think, not as good as some may have expected and one, given the number of changes, that needs some time to grow and develop together, to get the identity Selwood and head coach Bob McGill desire. It's no secret that it's much better to be climbing to a pinnacle than falling from it or even spinning in circles. Sometimes, it takes time to climb. Just ask the London Knights. First win for Owens Corning CLARINGTON -- Owens Corning recorded its first win of the season by a score of 4-1 over Cowan Pontiac in Clarington Recreational Hockey League pccwcc play. Earl Anderson opened the scoring on an assist by Mark Johnson, and added his second of the game in the third period on a Iced from Travis Mills, Two more goals were scored by Graham Anderson and Mike Mills with assists going to Tanner Smith and Anderson, Ty Owen played a stellar game in goal but lost his shutout bid with just under live minutes to go in the game. BHS, Holy Trinity come up just short Senior and junior football teams lose in quarterfinals BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor CLARINGTON -- Both the Holy Trinity Titans and Bowmanville Talons can take solace in the fact they pushed the opposition right to the limit before bowing out of the LOSSA football playoffs playoffs last week. Both teams were victimized by the same school, Easldale, as the Bowmanville Bowmanville seniors were blanked 9-0 during a miserable, rainy afternoon last Thursday, while the Holy Trinity juniors were edged 33-27 in overtime on Friday. For Holy Trinity, the game contrasted one played just a week earlier in which Eastdale won handily 33-6. The quarterfinal quarterfinal started in the same fashion with Eastdale jumping out to a 20-12 lead at the half, but Holy Trinity marched back to tie the game at 26-26 in the fourth quarter, forcing two, 10-minute overtime overtime halves. Holy Trinity managed a single point in the first half, but Eastdale replied with a touchdown in the second half to pull out the home field win. "The game was definitely our most intense of the season, arid the best game our team has played. Our players really , showed a lot of heart to bounce back and play so tough after the 33-6 loss to Eastdale," said head coach Fred Zinkie. , "Our team is proud of the way we played, but it is still hard to come so close and lose in overtime." • Matt Raco had three touchdowns for Holy Trinity, with Dan McCarthy getting getting one as well as a two-point conversion. conversion. - Holy Trinity, after receiving a bye in the B Pool semifinals vvith a default win over Pickering, will play in the bronze medal final Friday against the winner of Denis O'Connor and Wilson. Bowmanville coach Rick Konopka, though eliminated, said he was "proud of what his team accomplished" during the season. He cited the rainy and cold conditions in the qriarterfinal as playing a factor in the loss to Eastdale, negating a passing • attack that Bowmanville had hoped to use. "It came down to the team with the ■ least number of errors would win, and we made a couple," lie said of the game that was still up for grabs.into the fourth quarter. "I'm happy with the effort of the players in the end. It was a gradual thing of trying to convince them we had a crack at winning this season." The players obviously got the message, message, finishing 3-1-1 on the season and advancing to the playoffs. mm t; LÿW'.T h*v jlî sftæ .■ ill It a. ■>: £ A Luâtâ . A couple of Clarington high schools battled in the LOSSA football quarterfinals last week, but were unable to get past Eastdale, the common opponent in both games. In the top photo, a Bowmanville ball carrier is grabbed by an Eastdale player during a senior game played in rainy, cold conditions. Eastdale managed the only points of the game, winning 9-0. Below, Holy Trinity's Billy Cramp tries to make a tackle on Eastdale's Alex Bruce during a junior quarterfinal that was played under ideal weather conditions. Holy Trinity fought back from a halttime deficit to force overtime, but were defeated 33-27. There will be another day for Holy Trinity, however, in Friday's bronze medal game. Walter Passarella, Celia Klemenz/ The Canadian Statesman si *p Bi The report card is in on Eagles Passing marks for Bowmanville BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor ' BOWMANVILLE -- Nearing the midway mark of the season, Bowmanville Bowmanville Eagles coach Curtis Hodgins has seen enough of his hockey team to give an honest, unbiased opinion of its status. status. Alright, maybe it won't be entirely honest or unbiased seeing as lie's at the helm, but through 20 of 49 games in the Provincial Junior A Hockey League, Hodgins likes what lie sees. And why not? After struggling out of the gate with a 1-5-0-0 mark, the defending East Conference Conference champions have righted their wrongs, going 9-2-3-0 through the next 14 games and arc currently riding a four- game winning streak, live unbeaten all, told, after producing a 4-1 win in Bancroft Bancroft against the Hawks Friday night, followed by a narrow 3-2 victory oyer the visiting Syracuse Stars on home ice Sunday. The streak has meant a steady progression progression up the standings, currently sitting fifth at 10-7-3-0, just four points hack of the fourth place Kingston Voyageurs (11-8-4-1) while holding lour games in hand. So with 20 down and 29 left'to go, just what kind of impression has the hockey club made on its coach? Well, let him tell you. DEFENCE Among the 10 teams in the East, only the Cobourg Cougars (50) have allowed fewer than the 56 goals the Eagles have. In fact, just five teams among the 35 in the entire league have allowed fewer goals. "Our blue-line was decimated early and we were forced to use forwards back there, but now that we arc. getting getting healthy, I'm happy with our defence. We're not huge, but they are all pretty mobile and move the puck well. "Our defence is only going to get Curtis Hodgins better when Troy Murray comes back. He is the big horse that every leant needs. When he gets back healthy and playing, lie is only going to make our defence stronger." Murray, a 6-lbol-3, 215-pound . 16- year-old, took a puck in the face in the third game of the season back on Sept. 17 in Wellington, and has yet to make it back to the lineup, though that could change this weekend, He is expected to play Friday in Lindsay. FORWARDS While gaining a reputation for a stingy defence, the forwards are also stingy about scoring, although some improvement improvement has been made of late. The 63 goals scored by the Eagles are slightly better than Peterborough (61), Lindsay (60) and Bancroft (54). Keep in mind though, all three of those teams have losing records. "We struggled early with our scoring, but we are starting to score in the last 10 games. They all work hard and we arc happy with that. You are always looking to add a little more offence or size up front if somebody comes along. Right now vve have 12 forwards and would like to have 13." GOALTENDING . Dan Colliding, who shone as a rookie last season, is among the top net minders in the league, while backup Max Desjardins Desjardins has been used sparingly thus far. Desjardins was probably hurt the most by the slow start, forced to watch from the bench as the Eagles tried to claw their way back up to respectability. "After a slow start, Daniel has been phenomenal and has given us a lot of confidence. The way he moves the puck is a benefit to our team and that's a big . part of our game. We know what we are getting with him and he has taken his game to the next level this season. "Max is still an unknown to us, We have to get him some more work. We THE SCOOP BEATING THE BIRDS - The Eagles got goals from Paul Michael Rivest, Tomek Budziakowski, Kyle Branson and Kyle Goodchild in a 4-1 win in Bancroft on Friday over the Hawks. FALLING STARS - Brent Small's second second of the game with just 1:19 left lifted the Eagles to a 3-2 home ice win over the Syracuse Stars on Sunday. Branson, on the power play, had the other goal. went through a stretch in October where we didn't play a lot of games and got off to an awful start, so we had to win some games and you arc going to go with the guy you know can do the job." OVERALL A couple of weeks back, there seemed to he three tiers developing within the conference, with Wellington, Port Hope, Cobourg and Kingston in the top tier, Trenton and Bowmanville in the next group, and Lindsay, Peterborough, Bancroft Bancroft and Syracuse in the bottom tier. Since then the Eagles have threatened threatened to move into that top group of four, Games next week against Cobourg, Kingston and Wellington will give a better better indication of where they belong.